Harvard

Corona del Mar High senior Evan Ramsey has committed to play water polo at Harvard, he said Thursday. The versatile Ramsey, who led CdM in assists and steals and never lost a quarter-opening sprint all season, was a first-team All-Pacific Coast League and All-CIF Southern Section Division II selection. He also earned a Daily Pilot Dream Team nod after helping CdM capture the CIF Southern Section Division II title. Ramsey, who has a 4.0 weighted grade-point average, said he was also considering Brown.

Corona del Mar High senior Ben Zepfel has committed to play collegiate water polo at Harvard, CdM Coach Barry O'Dea announced in an email Thursday. Zepfel was the Pacific Coast League MVP last fall for CdM, as well as All-CIF Southern Section Division II first team. He was the Sea Kings' top scorer with 81 goals, helping CdM win league and advance to the Division II championship match for the second straight year. The Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team selection, a CdM co-captain, also had 31 steals and drew 62 ejections.

WHEN: Today, 11 a.m. WHERE: Lavietes Pavilion RADIO: KUCI/88.9 FM BREAKDOWN: If history is any judge, UCI has had quite enough of its third straight 4-8 start, which includes three straight losses and an 0-8 record away from campus this season. After opening 4-8 in 2006-07, the Anteaters won their next three games. In 2005-06, the ’Eaters responded to a 4-8 start by reeling off nine straight wins ... Harvard (4-10), would appear to provide a prime opportunity for UCI to turn things around.

Corona del Mar High senior Danny Moskovits will play baseball at Harvard, spurning a chance to compete for a handful of other NCAA Division I programs. Moskovits, a two-time Daily Pilot Dream Team selection, said he picked Harvard over Division I offers from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Santa Barbara and Valparaiso, among others. A first-team All-Pacific Coast League pitcher as a sophomore, Moskovits was aiming to continue as an infielder and said Harvard was the best place for that.

Steve Virgen Coaches from Corona del Mar High and Harvard-Westlake called Thursday's nonleague boys water polo matchup between the Sea Kings and the Wolverines an early-season test. That test also turned out to be a slugfest, as two of the top heavyweights in CIF Southern Section Division I went toe-to-toe in a very physical contest. Harvard-Westlake (6-0), ranked No. 2 in CIF Division I, won Round 1 with an aggressive defense that led to a 10-7 victory over the visiting Sea Kings, the third-ranked squad in Division I. The matchup drew scouts from the University of Pepperdine and Stanford, as Cardinal assistant coach Brian Kreutzkamp, the former Newport Harbor head man, watched and took notes.

The UC Irvine baseball team, ranked No. 3 by Collegiate Baseball, will try to start another winning streak when it plays host to Harvard today at 6 p.m. at Anteater Ballpark. The Anteaters (16-2) had their eight-game winning streak halted by top-ranked Arizona State, 11-3, to close out the Bob Schaefer Memoria Tournament in Tempe, Ariz. Sunday. UCI opened the season with eight straight victories. Christian Bergman, the Anteaters’ right-handed sophomore will get the start tonight.

Corona del Mar High product Ben Zepfel, a freshman at Harvard, was named first-team Collegiate Water Polo Assn. Northern Division by the conference coaches. Zepfel, named Northern Division Rookie of the Week a record four times during the season, had 78 goals to pace the Crimson (15-19). He was third on the team with 40 regular-season steals. He was the lone freshman recognized on the first team. - From staff reports

Newport Harbor High senior Dan Stevens has earned Sunset League Player of the Year honors for boys' water polo. Stevens is joined on the Sunset League first team by senior teammates Curtis Fink, Preston Lee and Andrew Silvers. Newport Harbor Coach Robert Lynn was named league Coach of the Year. Newport Harbor senior goalie Wyatt Muller, as well as juniors Mitchell Mendoza and Ryan Warde, earned second-team all-league honors. Stevens, a standout defender and co-captain bound for Harvard, was second on the Sailors in both goals (49)

COSTA MESA - Newport Harbor's Paige Thompson connected with an unassisted goal in the second half and freshman goalie Chloe Cox made it stand up as the Sailors recorded a 1-0 nonleague girls field hockey victory over Harvard of Westlake Thursday afternoon at Harper School. Thompson's goal was off a rebound from the Harvard goalkeeper. The Sailors outshot Harvard from the field, 10-4, in a decision shared by many, especially Elizabeth Evans, Bitta Jansma and Kelly Kraus, who all came in for praise from their coach, Sharon Wolfe.

Roger Carlson NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High's host Sailors took their shots at No. 4-seeded Harvard/Westlake of North Hollywood in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division I water polo playoffs Saturday morning ... and missed. Coach Jason Lynch's near-seniorless Sea View League champions met their expectations for the season, with a .500 record (15-15), an unbeaten league season and a berth in the quarterfinals of CIF, but Saturday the Sailors simply ran into a roadblock.

Members of the Costa Mesa High boys' basketball team tied a program record this year with 19 wins. They also won the Battle of the Bell series against cross-town rival Estancia for the third straight year. What they weren't able to do prior to Wednesday night's CIF Southern Section Division 4AA first-round playoff game, though, was grow several inches each. Visiting Harvard-Westlake had a size advantage, and the No. 8-seeded Wolverines exploited it on their way to a 64-48 victory that ended Costa Mesa's season.

IRVINE - The last instructions Newport Harbor High boys' water polo coach Robert Lynn gave to his team coming out of halftime were crystal clear. "Keep it under control, guys," Lynn told his players as they waited along the lane line. "Keep covering back. Take their counter away. " For the better part of three quarters, the Sailors indeed were able to take away Studio City Harvard-Westlake's counterattack in Wednesday night's CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal match. But then Harvard-Westlake junior Johnny Hooper got free for a goal with two seconds left in the third quarter.

Newport Harbor boys' water polo coach Robert Lynn is not one to talk about a potential opponent in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and look past the first round. But Lynn was willing to talk about No. 2-seeded Harvard-Westlake because he had coached there prior to Newport Harbor and helped with the building of a strong program for the Wolverines. Newport Harbor, one of three Newport-Mesa area teams in the playoffs, is the No. 3 seed and if the brackets hold up, the Sailors will meet Harvard-Westlake in the semifinals Nov. 20 at William Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine.

Newport Harbor High senior Cleo Harrington has committed to play women's water polo at Harvard University, she said Saturday night. Harrington is entering her third season as varsity goalie for the Sailors. Last year she made 295 saves, tops among Orange County Division 1 goalies, in helping Newport Harbor return to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship match for the second straight year. She earned Newport-Mesa Co-Player of the Year honors, as well as first-team All-Sunset League and second-team All-CIF accolades.

CORONA DEL MAR - To be the best, you have to beat the best. But first, you have to put yourself in a position to play the best. The Corona del Mar High boys' tennis team gave itself that opportunity Wednesday afternoon in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal match. The No. 2-seeded Sea Kings topped No. 3 Harvard-Westlake at home, 12-6, earning a trip back to the Division 1 final for the second straight year. CdM will play its rival, three-time defending Division 1 champion University, for the title at 11:30 a.m. Friday at The Claremont Club.

LA JOLLA - The Corona del Mar High boys' tennis team won the La Jolla Country Day School Invitational Saturday. In the final, CdM played its best tennis defeating Harvard-Westlake, 7-2. CdM defeated La Jolla, 9-0, and Cathedral Catholic, 9-0, on Friday. CdM beat a strong Torrey Pines team 7-2 in the semifinals. The format of three doubles sets and six singles showcased CdM's depth. Alec Adamson went undefeated in singles and doubles and teamed with Carson Williams. Chaz Downing and Josh Kliger played great doubles in the semifinal and final matches.

Newport Harbor High senior Dan Stevens has earned Sunset League Player of the Year honors for boys' water polo. Stevens is joined on the Sunset League first team by senior teammates Curtis Fink, Preston Lee and Andrew Silvers. Newport Harbor Coach Robert Lynn was named league Coach of the Year. Newport Harbor senior goalie Wyatt Muller, as well as juniors Mitchell Mendoza and Ryan Warde, earned second-team all-league honors. Stevens, a standout defender and co-captain bound for Harvard, was second on the Sailors in both goals (49)